Once you go silicone, you won't go back!

I heart silicone which is ironic because this is a heart-shaped silicone mold pan by Wilton and it's wonderful. I use them for baking cupcakes and mostly because I'm a soap maker (so for projects).

Silicone is preferred in soap making because it's virtually indestructable. This is dishwasher safe, and oven safe. If I make cupcakes with it, I put it on a flat pan because it is rubbery and the cupcake mix will spill out. I do the same if I melt soap and pour into it. I make soap, mostly cupcake-style soap, cake slices and food-scented ones like pumpkin cheesecake, lemon poundcake, maraschino cherry and more. This comes in handy when I make easy, cute soap for craft fairs, a lot of women, teens and girls love heart-shaped soap. I add glitter, coloring and scent and they become a big hit.

There are no heart-shaped cupcake paper holders, so when making cupcakes they are just open and you frost them. They cook well in silicone, and turn out fluffy and perfect, but be careful for burning on the bottom which sometimes can occur. I spray the cups anyway with oil so they will slide out better and can even do that when I make soap. But with silicone, it's so bendable and breathable that they just pop out easily. With soap I pop it into the freezer and they pop out even easier.

Each heart makes about a 4-ounce soap and a regular-cupcake size. Sometimes if you overfill the cup with batter, it won't look exactly like a heart, but if you are careful, it will. This is great for Valentine's cupcakes or projects (like soap!). You cold also get creative and try meatloaf in them, quiche and stuff like that.

They wash up nicely and do not take on the fragrance of what was used in it before. I got mine for $9.99 at Michael's and used a coupon (so I paid maybe $8). If you want to make many cupcakes at once, it would be good to get more than one. Silicone stores easily as well and I am getting more and more silicone for my soap projects these days than plastic.